Approaches to inclusive research in education: opportunities and challenges: round table discussion feedback, Group 1

Dandy George Dampson, Stella Long, Genevieve Murray, Remi Odunsi, Saneeya Qureshi

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticle

Abstract

The role of the SENCO was established in the 1994 SEN Code of Practice (DfE, 1994) which stated that all mainstream schools in England must have someone responsible for coordinating and implementing appropriate services and provisions for children with SEN. This interpretivist study investigates the impact that SENCOs have on teachers' capacity to address SEN in their classrooms. A mixed-method approach (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007) is applied, consisting of three phases: self-administered questionnaires, face-to-face semi-structured interviews and case-study vignettes of SENCOs, teachers and head teachers, along with document scrutiny of school SEN-related material. I will discuss challenges pertaining to my methodological examination of the SENCO-teacher dynamic. These include sampling issues, cohort access, professional experience and identity, and the validity of research instruments. Implications are then considered with regard to emergent themes, and the construction of a meaningful image of how SENCOs affect the inclusive practices of their teaching colleagues. A key challenge that I currently face pertains to the dynamic and fluid school environments and their impact on the quality of my data, and thus how SENCOs and teachers respectively construct their 'realities'.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInter University Symposium Journal
Volume1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2014

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